Diving Puglia

So now that I’ve moved to the south of Italy I’ve started working with a centre based in Monopoli called ‘Diving Puglia D.C.‘. Run by two IDC Staff Instructors – Pio (soon to be Master Instructor) and Valeria – it is an excellent place a stone’s throw from the Adriatic Sea. I’ve started working towards my Tech Instructor rating and ultimately Tri-mix as well, with Pio as my instructor, and will be heading towards being an Instructor in both fields as well. Although there are plenty of wrecks in the area within the recreational diving range, I’d very much like to see some of those that are just slightly beyond.

The south of Italy has a huge maritime heritage. This, of course, dates back to Greek and Roman times, and more recently the Adriatic and Ionian Seas (the latter about an hour’s drive to the south) featured prominently in both world wars.

The Adriatic is warm and has pretty good visibility where we are. Today the water was 24 degrees and the viz excellent. It may not quite be the Aegean in terms of visibility, but it is clear and warm and the bottom topography of the coastal dives is very interesting. Puglia is full of grottoes above ground (I have two in my back yard) and the same beneath the sea surface. There are caverns and caves as well, though cave diving I will give a miss for now I think.

At the end of next week we are heading to Elba for instructor training. It’s an island I’ve wanted to visit both for the Napoleonic history and to look for remains of the German occupation and Operation Brassard when the Allies landed in June 1944. Apparently there are some great wrecks that we may be going to have a look at 🙂

Messing around with the lift bag

So, there you have it. The diving is good, the dive centre is friendly, well-stocked with equipment, well-run and comes with the possibility of dive packages including accommodation and airport transfers to and from Bari airport. We have an IDC happening in late November…now available in English as well as Italian! Anybody interested in some courses or just a diving holiday, drop me a line 🙂 Or just go straight to the centre’s website.